You may have heard that to increase muscle and to lose weight
you need to increase your protein intake. When I first heard
that I thought...wait a minute the same thing that is going to
make you bigger is supposed to make you 'smaller'...I asked the
trainer this question and he looked at me dumbfounded but it
left me to thinking..."besides sounding absurd, will this method
actually be safe?"
Although we all know we require a certain quantity of protein
every day to be healthy and because of propaganda to this
effect, a lot of people view the daily consumption of
high-protein foods such as meat and dairy as highly beneficial,
judging from the failure of most if not all the people I have
personally known attempting to lose weight on a high-protein,
low carb diet, it may be time to revise our ideas about protein.
From what I have seen (upwards of six cases I have been able to
observe among friends, family and co-workers) it will be safe to
answer the question heading this article with a simple No!
Not only is a diet high in protein NOT the best at all for
weight loss, according to many naturopaths, such a diet may even
be detrimental to ones overall health.
Because of its complexity, excessive protein along with fatty
foods are the most difficult foods to digest and tend to leave
one tired all the time. Moreover the common putrefaction of
protein while being digested creates many acids in the body and
has been known to lay the foundation for cancer.
This is not to say that proteins and fats must be avoided, quite
the contrary, what should be the goal in consuming these foods
should be taking in exactly what the body needs and no more. The
Max Planck institute has proven that, considering that the body
recycles most of its protein for its own needs, 25g of protein a
day is more than enough.
According to T.C. Fry, a well known Naturopath and pioneer in
drugless healing, there are several cultures such as the
Caribbeans, who subsist on a Manioc-based (root-vegetable) diet
and get about 12 g of protein a day. Quite similarly, an
aboriginal tribe living in the Mountains of Hagen was discovered
to live on about 80-90% of their diet being Sweet Potatoes, the
rest mostly leafy veggies, bananas and the like. While I lived
in Nigeria for 17 plus years, most people hardly ever even
consumed milk or cheese (they were too expensive) and families
strictly rationed the consumption of animal flesh to about the
size of medium size lemon per person every other day. All these
groups of people, with their root vegetable diets are obviously
in great health, accomplishing great physical work.
Moreover, Mother's milk, which for a time is a baby's perfect
food, has about 1-2 % protein content. (Only fruits and veggies
resemble it in their composition) Any reasonable person will be
able to deduce that a growing baby needs more protein than a
full-grown adult, yet human babies, just like with our distant
cousins: the Apes in the wild, do just fine on breast milk and
on the subject of apes who share about 98% of our DNA, do you
know the Gorilla, the strongest primate, has been known to bench
press upwards of about 4000 pounds! What does this creature live
on? According to Dr. George Schaller and Dian Fossey, two great
primatologists, this powerful relative lives on mostly fruits
and leaves.
Now, considering all the factors above, when it comes to the
right diet for weight loss, I would recommend a Mucus-less or
Mucus-poor (raw and cooked fruits and veggies) over any other
mere fad in the quest of attaining fitness and health. Of
course, if the consumption of animal flesh must be continued, I
would also advise that it be done at a minimal quantity and only
one kind of animal flesh every so often.
In my opinion, consumption of fresh home-made salads, mono-meals
of fruits, snacks on dried fruits such as dates, a few nuts and
maybe even a short juice fast, as a choice for a diet (along
with some form of exercise) will be the best path to attaining
safe and healthy weight loss.
Foras Aje is the author of the ebook Fitness-Inside and Out, a
book on Naturopathy about Yoga, Calisthenics, Proper diet and
mental attunements. For more information on health, fitness and
Drugless Healing, visit
http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com or read
his blog at
http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/wp/index.php
About the author:
Foras Aje is the author of the ebook Fitness-Inside and Out, a
book on Naturopathy about Yoga, Calisthenics, Proper diet and
mental attunements. For more information on health, fitness and
Drugless Healing, visit
http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com or read
his blog at
http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/wp/index.php
